Louisiana softball shuts out Marshall to claim Sun Belt Conference tournament championship
There's a who's who in the circle for Louisiana softball with Meghan Schorman, Sam Landry, Kandra Lamb and even senior Karly Heath. It's been that way all year.
While Ragin' Cajuns coach Gerry Glasco has said all season that there's no true "ace" on this staff, with the Sun Belt Conference Softball Tournament championship on the line, he just may have found her.
Landry got the start for the Cajuns (46-13) and threw a one-hitter in the 1-0 victory at Lamson Park Saturday afternoon.
Louisiana has won four consecutive Sun Belt tournament titles.
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Louisiana softball pitcher Sam Landry shines in Sun Belt Conference Tournament championship game
The Cajuns' sophomore pitcher stamped her foot on the gas out the gate. She struck out four of the first eight Marshal batters she faced through two innings. She finished the game with 11 strikeouts, getting better as the game progressed, striking out the side in order the end the game in the top of the seventh.
Landry retired 15 of the first 17, including 12 straight, through five innings without giving up a hit during that stretch.
In the complete-game win, she was in control and her location was spot-on, consistently painting the inside corner to some of Marshall's top hitters, who combined for zero hits.
Marshall softball led by dazzling performance from Sydney Nester
This game was the epitome of a pitcher's duel.
While Landy cooked for Louisiana, Nester did the same for the Thundering Herd with the exception of the one pitch she left over the plate to Lauren Allred.
UL didn't have a strikeout against Texas State in the semifinals, but Nester sat down three Cajuns before the third inning was through. Marshall's ace, who had 230 strikeouts and 27 wins on the season coming into the Sun Belt title game, gave up four hits.
Lauren Allred leads UL offense
Nothing about the moment was too big for the Ragin' Cajun freshmen.
After flying out to left in her first at-bat, Allred turned on one for a solo home run in the fourth inning for the game's first run.
She recorded two of UL's four hits and scored its only run.
Ragin' Cajuns should be NCAA regional hosts
The win over Marshall doesn't quite look as good as if South Alabama had won against the Herd on Friday in terms of RPI. MU has a 53 RPI while the Jags are 42.
But clinching the conference championship along with being top 11 in the country in RPI should be enough for the Cajuns to be one of the top 16 seeds when the NCAA Selection Committee reveals the tourney field Sunday night.
Cory Diaz covers the LSU Tigers and Louisiana Ragin’ Cajuns for The Daily Advertiser as part of the USA TODAY Network. Follow his Tigers and Cajuns coverage on Twitter: @ByCoryDiaz. Got questions regarding LSU/UL athletics? Send them to Cory Diaz at bdiaz@gannett.com.
This article originally appeared on Lafayette Daily Advertiser: Sam Landry leads Louisiana softball to Sun Belt title over Marshall
